PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Huculak, Susan TI - The placebo effect in psychiatry: problem or solution? AID - 10.1136/medethics-2013-101410 DP - 2014 Jun 01 TA - Journal of Medical Ethics PG - 376--380 VI - 40 IP - 6 4099 - http://jme.bmj.com/content/40/6/376.short 4100 - http://jme.bmj.com/content/40/6/376.full SO - J Med Ethics2014 Jun 01; 40 AB - This opinion piece aims to situate the placebo effect within the field of psychiatric treatment. To accomplish this, the placebo is explored at the centre of an often heated debate between three discrete perspectives: the clinical trial researcher, the placebo researcher and the clinician. Each occupational perspective has its own vested interests and practical concerns that drive how the placebo concepts are negotiated and applied. It is argued that because the trial and placebo researchers typically represent opposing viewpoints, clinicians are generally uncomfortable or even baffled by placebo concepts, and this three-way tension has crucial implications for the field's progress.